FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 10, 2016

Sheepshead Bay Man Convicted of Trying to
Kidnap 9-Year-Old Girl who was Playing in her Front Yard

Defendant Exposed Himself and Tried to Grab the Girl;
Victim Rescued by her Father, who Heard Screams

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 39-year-old man has been convicted of attempted kidnapping and other charges for trying to abduct a 9-year-old girl, who was playing in the front yard of her Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn home.

Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “It is disturbing that this defendant attempted to kidnap a little girl who was playing outside her home in broad daylight. She was lucky to be saved by her quick-thinking father and we will now see that the predator who attacked her is held accountable.”

The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Robert Drach, 39, of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. He was convicted yesterday of second-degree attempted kidnapping, public lewdness, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal trespass after a jury trial before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Guy Mangano. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced on November 29, 2016.

The Acting District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on June 11, 2015, at approximately 7 a.m., the 9-year-old victim was playing in the front yard of her home, located on Ford Street in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. The defendant entered through the front gate and tried to drag her out. The victim struggled and screamed while observing the defendant’s exposed genitalia. Her father heard the screams, ran out and restrained the defendant until police arrived.

According to the evidence, the defendant stated, that he was walking to a friend’s home when he saw a girl he liked, that she told him she was 18 and that she invited him to her house, saying her father wasn’t home. He also admitted to grabbing the victim and to exposing himself.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Ebonie Legrand and Alana Tierney, of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, under the supervision of Miss Gregory, Chief.